Intercultural Development Inventory

A cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence that is used to build intercultural competence to achieve international and domestic diversity and inclusion goals and outcomes. The IDI assessment and debriefing help you develop a more culturally-competent mindset about antiracism and inclusion.

Be the Bridge

Be the Bridge offers opportunities for education, antiracist resources, and interaction for people from many different people groups.

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.

In a time when nearly every institution (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claims to value diversity in its mission statement, Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice. Her stories bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric—from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.

For readers who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

This landmark book is a founding work in the literature of black protest. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) played a key role in developing the strategy and program that dominated early 20th-century black protest in America. In this collection of essays, first published together in 1903, he eloquently affirms that it is beneath the dignity of a human being to beg for those rights that belong inherently to all mankind. He also charges that the strategy of accommodation to white supremacy advanced by Booker T. Washington, then the most influential black leader in America, would only serve to perpetuate black oppression. Publication of The Souls of Black Folk was a dramatic event that helped to polarize black leaders into two groups: the more conservative followers of Washington and the more radical supporters of aggressive protest. Its influence cannot be overstated. It is essential reading for everyone interested in African-American history and the struggle for civil rights in America.

Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh

In 1988, scholar and activist Peggy McIntosh coined the phrase “white privilege” to describe the benefits afforded white people in American Society in her essay, Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.  One of the most helpful aspects of her essay is a list of fifty specific examples of white privilege she experienced in her own life.

Freedom’s Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970 by Lynne Olson

In this groundbreaking and absorbing book, credit finally goes where credit is due -- to the bold women who were crucial to the success of the civil rights movement. From the Montgomery bus boycott to the lunch counter sit-ins to the Freedom Rides, Lynne Olson skillfully tells the long-overlooked story of the extraordinary women who were among the most fearless, resourceful, and tenacious leaders of the civil rights movement. 
Freedom's Daughters includes portraits of more than sixty women -- many until now forgotten and some never before written about -- from the key figures (Ida B. Wells, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Baker, and Septima Clark, among others) to some of the smaller players who represent the hundreds of women who each came forth to do her own small part and who together ultimately formed the mass movements that made the difference. Freedom's Daughters puts a human face on the civil rights struggle -- and shows that that face was often female.

Dream with Me: Race, Love, and the Struggle We Must Win by John M. Perkins

According to recent surveys and studies, race relations in the United States are the worst they've been since the 1990s, and many would argue that life for most minorities has not significantly improved since the civil rights era of the 1960s. For so many, the dream of true equality has dissolved into a reality of prejudice, fear, and violence as a way of life.

John M. Perkins has been there from the beginning. Raised by his sharecropping grandparents, Perkins fled Mississippi in 1947 after his brother was fatally shot by a police officer. He led voter registration efforts in 1964, worked for school desegregation in 1967, and was imprisoned and tortured in 1970. Through it all, he has remained determined to seek justice and reconciliation based in Christ's redemptive work. 

"Justice is something that every generation has to strive for," he says. And despite the setbacks of recent years, Perkins finds hope in the young people he has met all across the nation who are hard at work, bringing about reconciliation in God's name and offering acceptance to all. Dream with Me is his look back at a life devoted to seeking justice for all God's people, as well as a look forward to what he sees as a potentially historic breakthrough for people of every race.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree by Dr. James Cone

The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful new work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk. Both the cross and the lynching tree represent the worst in human beings and at the same time a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning. While the lynching tree symbolized white power and black death, the cross symbolizes divine power and black life God overcoming the power of sin and death. For African Americans, the image of Jesus, hung on a tree to die, powerfully grounded their faith that God was with them, even in the suffering of the lynching era.

Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63 by Taylor Branch

Pillar of Fire : America in the King Years 1963-65 by Taylor Branch

At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68 by Taylor Branch

These volumes would be for those who love great detail, great biographical reading, and well written history.  Each volume is around 1,000 pages.  He won the Pulitzer Prize for Parting the Waters).

White Awake: An Honest Look at What it Means to Be White by Daniel White

Daniel Hill will never forget the day he heard these words: "Daniel, you may be white, but don't let that lull you into thinking you have no culture. White culture is very real. In fact, when white culture comes in contact with other cultures, it almost always wins. So it would be a really good idea for you to learn about your culture." Confused and unsettled by this encounter, Hill began a journey of understanding his own white identity. Today he is an active participant in addressing and confronting racial and systemic injustices. And in this compelling and timely book, he shows you the seven stages to expect on your own path to cultural awakening. It's crucial to understand both personal and social realities in the areas of race, culture, and identity. This book will give you a new perspective on being white and also empower you to be an agent of reconciliation in our increasingly diverse and divided world.

Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrison

In an era where we seem to be increasingly divided along racial lines, many are hesitant to step into the gap, fearful of saying or doing the wrong thing. At times the silence, particularly within the church, seems deafening.
 
But change begins with an honest conversation among a group of Christians willing to give a voice to unspoken hurts, hidden fears, and mounting tensions. These ongoing dialogues have formed the foundation of a global movement called Be the Bridge—a nonprofit organization whose goal is to equip the church to have a distinctive and transformative response to racism and racial division.
 
In this perspective-shifting book, founder Latasha Morrison shows how you can participate in this incredible work and replicate it in your own community. With conviction and grace, she examines the historical complexities of racism. She expertly applies biblical principles, such as lamentation, confession, and forgiveness, to lay the framework for restoration.
 
Along with prayers, discussion questions, and other resources to enhance group engagement, Be the Bridge presents a compelling vision of what it means for every follower of Jesus to become a bridge builder—committed to pursuing justice and racial unity in light of the gospel.

Why Are All the Black Kids Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.

Selma (2014)

A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.  Dr Martin Luther King and his followers go to Selma, Alabama to attempt to achieve, through non-violent protest, equal voting rights and abilities for black people.

Loving (2016)

The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision.

Cry, The Beloved Country (2016)

Reverend Stephen Kumalo (James Earl Jones) is a back-country Zulu preacher in South Africa. When his son (Eric Miyeni) is accused of robbery and murder, Kumalo journeys to Johannesburg, where he is helped by a local priest (Vusi Kunene). He eventually meets James Jarvis (Richard Harris), the father of the murder victim, who is a prominent white supremacist. However, they discover common ground, and their mutual respect becomes a symbol of apartheid's eventual demise.

Just Mercy (2019)

Just Mercy is about the world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, who works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.  That prisoner, McMillian, was convicted for the murder of a white woman. Stevenson is also famous for founding the Equal Justice Initiative.

A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

The movie centers on the Younger family, an African American family living in a city. The family must decide what to do with a $10,000 life insurance check. It deals with themes of racism, feminism, and economic inequality, among others.  The film is a groundbreaking work that manages to be both specific to the African-American experience and universal in its themes of hope, change, and upward mobility.

I Am Not Your Negro

I Am Not Your Negro is a searing indictment of America's failure to rectify its shameful history of racial inequality. James Baldwin's personal account of the civil rights movement and its trio of outspoken icons on the vulnerable vanguard reminds us that there is still much work to be done.

Whitopia: My road trip through the whitest towns in America

A Ted Talk by Rich Benjamin. As America becomes more and more multicultural, Rich Benjamin noticed a phenomenon: Some communities were actually getting less diverse. So he got out a map, found the whitest towns in the USA — and moved in. In this funny, honest, human talk, he shares what he learned as a black man in Whitopia.

I’m Still Here

Talk by Austin Channing Brown taken from her book, I’m Still Here.